First published in my Urban Education column at www.examiner.com on January 31, 2013.

Many teachers who teach in urban settings complain that students are
unmotivated and they don't know what to do. Learners who act out have
in many cases simply become disinterested in school for various reasons.
One of the main reasons is that they have been disengaged in learning
so often that they have lost interest. Absenteeism is a main cause of
disengagement. Learners who are absent too often miss important
information and get behind so they lose interest.

The acting out and unmotivated learner misbehaves in order to cover
up the fact the he or she doesn't understand and they don't want anyone,
including the teacher, to know that they don't know.
Blended learning
is a 21st Century tool which allows teachers to differentiate
instruction is a way that each learner is engaged in what he needs to
learn, and nobody else in the class knows what that something is except
the teacher and him. This allow students who have been absent and
missed important information and necessary instruction to catch up at
their own pace.

What is Blended Learning?
Blended learning is an innovative combination of direct face-to-face
instruction coupled with online learning. It may also be called hybrid
learning or mixed mode instruction. It allows teachers to mix
different learning environments, allowing for student need. This
computer mediated method of instruction approaches teaching and learning
in more integrated manner.
Blended learning comes in many forms. There are many programs such
as Achieve 3000, MyReadingLab, MyWritingLab, and others that can be used
to engage students in differentiated online activities.
In the past, technology-based program such as Aventa, Apex, and K12
acted as the star of the classroom with very little face to face
instruction.

The programs can become quite costly.
Additionally, in many cases, there was an tutor or instructional
mentor in the classroom guiding students while the actual teacher was
someplace on the other side of world. Students only had access to the
actual teacher via the internet. Though this works for students who are
on level and on target for leaning, districts are finding that this
approach is not as effective for the unmotivated learner.
The unmotivated learner and in fact great benefit from online
activities and online instruction, they need a teacher in their faces
every day. They need this teacher to encourage them and facilitate
learning in their behalf.
Thus, there are many approaches to blended learning.

Blended
learning has many shapes and forms. Entire districts or individual
teachers involve students in many different ways. There is no
definitive outline or format. In some cases learners involvement in
technology is highly structured and while in other cases it is not.
At the same time, in some teachers rely highly on computers and other
hand held technologies and in other cases, the teacher can only get a
computer one day a week, or even one hour each week. Either case
provides teaching and learning for the blended learning model of
instruction.
Whether we want to accept it or not, blended learning is the future of education.

However, there is often a reason for concern in low socio-economic
areas where a digital divide still heavily exists. Real funding
barriers exists in many urban and rural areas. Despite the fact that
technology is becoming less expensive, in some areas the digital divide
has not narrowed.
Urban schools still face the challenge of the lack of necessary
resources to provide technology for all students. These facts are real
and relevant. Districts and administrators are encouraged to give
attention to the need for more technology in all classrooms. It is
2013, why don't all classrooms have enough technology for all students?
Not withstanding, this is where free Web 2.0 technologies and hand
held devices including cell phones come into play. Teachers are now
being trained to use Web 2.0 technologies to engage unmotivated learners
in the classroom. In this case, technology and the teacher are the
co-stars of the show.

The teacher plans for instruction as usual. He or she then
incorporates one or more free Web 2.0 technologies into the lesson plan
to engage students in the learning process and support the learning he
expects to take place as a result of his lesson. Both teachers and
students alike benefit in significant ways from the use of Blended
Learning, the approach offers unequaled advantages.
Teachers are better able to differentiated instruction than otherwise
available in the traditional environment, in a more effective way.
Students who are either behind or advanced are afforded opportunities to
work at their own pace. A teacher is better able to support student
individualized need without pulling her hair out.

Students can access
lessons and activities anywhere and anytime, making it perfect for
students with high absentee rates. Teachers are better able to connect
Blooms Taxonomy, multiple intelligence instruction and meet the needs of
her student's various learning styles.
Finally, when students are engaged in a Blended Learning environment
they become better equipped with critical thinking and trouble shooting
skills necessary in the world of work that awaits them.

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